This invention relates to a vehicle accessory system.
The versatility of pickup trucks can be enhanced by providing a system for easily installing and removing accessories. A pair of rails mounted along each side of the truck bed can provide for simple mounting of any accessories. A variety of rail mounting systems have been proposed, but they either do not operate well in day-to-day operation or are difficult to install properly. For example, a T-shaped rail is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,380, which is easily mounted on top of the sidewall of a truck bed, and which is designed to receive a channel-mounting foot. However, the guiding surface of such a rail is exposed, and when ladders, pipes, and other articles are loaded onto the truck from the side, they are typically dragged over the rail, causing nicks and the like which can interfere with the reception of a channel-shaped mounting foot. Also, it is difficult to run a cable along such a rail or to provide a simple locking foot for such a rail. Other rails that have been proposed are designed to mount on the inside surface of truck bed sidewalls, where the rails are not subject to damage from equipment dragged over the sidewall. However, the distance between the inside surfaces of the sidewalls varies, due to waviness of the sheet metal, and any appreciable variation in the distance between the rails would interfere with reception of many accessories. Also, rails mounted on the inside surface of the sidewalls tend to tear the sheet metal of the sidewalls when the rails are heavily loaded, and the rails are vulnerable to damage by cargo moving in the truck bed.